April 7, 2015

NOLA: IndyCar Gets a Red Carpet in a Great New Market!

As the IndyCar Series makes its way for the first time to the outskirts of New Orleans to a club track with higher aspirations, the weather forecast looks unfavorable. That’s OK. It will be a warm rain with parties and great food nearby. Whether IndyCar will run in it remains to be seen. The D party of six will be there rain or shine. This is a potentially great market going forward. The management and ownership of the track, designed by the same guy who did Barber and Miller, is extremely enthusiastic. Too bad they cannot build an oval in that park as well.

A quick check of the web site of IndyCar’s cable television partner at 4pm on 04/07/15 again revealed glaring editorial deficiencies against IndyCar now that NASCAR will start in July and F1 events are being broadcast.

-On the front page European soccer is front and center.

-Top headlines: IndyCar is 0 for 10.

-The ‘Motorsports Talk’ headline? F1 in China.

When an IndyCar or other casual fan finds the ‘Motors’ link (not to be confused with the dedicated ‘NASCAR’ link) the top stories are:

F1

NASCAR

NASCAR

NASCAR

F1

Holy shit! ONE IndyCar story!

NASCAR

NASCAR

NASCAR

NASCAR

NASCAR

A person would have to dig all the way down to ‘Motorsports Talk’ to find minimal IndyCar coverage.

Also as originally reported on March 12, the NBC Sports Network Marketing Print and Digital Archive links page at nbcsportsnetwork.net continues to contain a glaring omission, as displayed on the right.

Whether blame for such failures should be directed toward NBCSN is debatable. I suspect IndyCar simply does not market itself as effectively as NASCAR or F1, both of which have been successful to the point of brainwashing otherwise ignorant decision makers in media. IndyCar managed to forge a coverage deal with USA Today and Gannett, but they cannot stop there. Electronic and digital media platforms must get exponentially more attention.

In any event fans are weary of seeing IndyCar pushed aside as the red-headed bastard stepchild.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

How would an oval at NOLA help NOLA? Fans don’t attend ovals anymore other than IMS. I’ve attended more than my share of oval IndyCar races over the years and watched the attendance decline year after year. I don’t understand the constant criticism of ovals disappearing from the schedule. Other than the ISC running any other form of motor sports that’s not NASCAR out of town, fans just don’t attend ovals yet the bitching persists. Even Iowa has declined. What is your explanation for this?Editor’s Note: Interesting observations but I tend to scoff at those who simply dismiss ovals as ‘not popular.’ If ovals were not popular NASCAR Cup would not run 34 of them every year. IndyCar’s problem with ovals is entirely centered on the makeup of the series; i.e., most owners, drivers and current management. The majority are non-oval enthusiasts with non-oval mentalities and drivers and a subjective bias against ovals. Too dangerous, too much crash damage, etc. For every Ed Carpenter there are half a dozen Formula One-abees. That is the problem. The problem is exacerbated when IndyCar decides to expend no effort i.e., ZERO, for the promotion or presentation of existing ovals outside Indy. The events the past few at Pocono and Fontana are classic examples of such outright neglect. The vast majority of sports and entertainment venues today have experienced decreased attendance and ratings. NASCAR is no exception. Any racing fan knows IndyCar generally provides better and faster racing on ovals, but that is not enough. If IndyCar promoted and presented its events in the same fashion as it did when it invented the playbook that it later just gave away to NASCAR this discussion would not be necessary. All viable metrics in America clearly demonstrate that non-oval racing is even less popular here than open wheel ovals. I know NOLA is enthusiastic about IndyCar. If I owned that club track (or any recently constructed club track with higher aspirations) I would always include a short, mostly flat-ish oval. Think of the doubleheader possibilities. Iowa still does great and if the schedule remained consistent and there was never a threat of weather it would sell out every time. Ditto for Texas. Milwaukee is on the upswing again. Indy is Indy. Other potentially great ovals are actively being ignored by IndyCar and that approach must end. At any rate…looking forward to getting to the track at NOLA later today.

Thanks for the response. I am just over all disgusted with the bitching about the disappearance of ovals from the schedule and yet no one goes. I agree with you for sure on lack of promotion and marketing. Fontana last year was just ridiculous. After seeing how well attended the NASCAR event was this year (a few weeks ago) would prove your point well.

I was at the last Kentucky Speedway IndyCar race and the attendance was almost non- existent and the racing was damn good. Ed Carpenter won after Will Power was taken out.

To those in Iowa: rain never hurt anyone. You are used to tornadoes, and if there is lightning, go jump in your car for a few minutes. IndyCars only come there once a year.

If ovals are being ignored by IndyCar, would that be because of an IMS bias perhaps?

I hope NOLA does well and that fans do their best to make it a party. They have the opportunity to carve out their own unique niche.

The race at Nola was a classic example of why all the road/street circuits are killing IndyCar. In the last 40 laps, how many green flag laps were completed? Two? Three? I know I was on the edge of my seat watching the constant parade behind the pace car. Worst IndyCar race ever.

Nothing says great racing when the pace car has turned more laps than the teams. Gottta love this clown show!!! Barnum & Bailey could do not do any better when it comes to laughs & the “greatest show on earth”.Editor’s Note: Thanks for watching. That actually matters.